The Nine Circles
by azazemon
Summary: The chains that once held the prince of darkness has weakened, and in his newfound power the devil has abducted Tifa. Aided by his new allies, Cloud must descend into the nine circles of hell to rescue Tifa and bind the devil once again. parings inside
1. Chapter 1

The sun shined on Cloud's and Tifa's face as he rode his motorcycle through the forest. It had been a month since he defeated Sephiroth, and he was looking for some place to relax for awhile and enjoy life for a change. As they came upon a clearing he stopped and got off the bike. Looking around he stretched his arms and legs and helped Tifa off the bike.

"Why did we come here?" Tifa asked with a smile.

"I wanted this to be a worry free day, so I figured we find a nice place and just....hang out." he said with a small smirk.

There was a sudden chill in the air. A cold wind blew with an unnatural fierceness, bending the trees as though they were corn stalks. Tifa hugged herself and moved closer to Cloud, who suddenly felt as if they were being watched. Suddenly he looked in front of him and saw a pair of glowing yellow eyes, followed by a low growl that grew to a snarl.

As he unsheathed his fusion sword the creature slowly emerged from the shadows. It was a large, black silhouette in the shape of what would appear to be a minotaur. I gave a low growl and charged at them. Cloud and Tifa easily dodged it; Cloud ran and sliced it in half with his sword. They both saw his sword cut it, but there was no indication that the creature even felt it. It turned towards them and charged again. This time, jumped on top of it and delivered a series of punches that sent it to the ground. Cloud chose this change to impale the creature multiple times before it gave an angry roar that knocked them both back. It got up, seemingly unharmed, and growled at them again as its yellow eyes widened.

"Something's wrong...none of our attacks are working." Cloud said bewildered.

"What is this thing?" Tifa asked, not very worried.

"Something your weapons won't work on." They heard someone behind them say.

They both turned to see a dark-skinned, bald man walking up to them. He wore a black, sleeveless shirt with three straps going from his left shoulder to the right side of his stomach. He wore a silver belt with baggy, black pants that were tucked into knee high, silver boots. He wore black gloves that both had crosses on them. His eyes were dark gold and he had a large sword on his back that had a split down the middle ending a quarter from the hilt. The blade itself was black with with white inscriptions carved into it. He had a large, golden cross in his hand.

The creature recognized the cross, and immediately snarled at him.

"Who are you?" Cloud asked.

"There'll be time for that later." he said charging at the creature.

As he got closer, the cross got brighter, and the creature jumped away from him. The man threw the cross on the ground right in front of the creature, which have of a shriek of pain from the intense light now emitting from it. The man pulled out a small bottle full of water and threw some on the demon, which shrieked even louder and clutched its right arm, which was now giving off steam and making what sounded like a sizzling noise.

"Now! Cut off its head!" he yelled at Cloud, who quickly complied by decapitating the beast in mid-scream.

Still clutching it's arm, its body fell to the ground, sizzled for a moment, the disintegrated.

"Good work. For a second there I thought I might've been too late." the man said picking up his cross.

"So are you gonna answer my question now?" Cloud asked.

"My name is Nori."

"Pretty lucky that you showed up when you did. Thank you." Tifa said with a smile.

"It was my pleasure. Strange though that it would attack you guys...especially when I was so near." Nori said.

"Why? Could it tell you were close?" Cloud asked.

"I bet it did...which is why I thought it was strange that it chose to attack you two knowing that I would most likely hear the commotion and come to help. This isn't adding up." Nori said now scratching his head.

"Well I think we should get out of here. If that one was bold enough to attack with you around I'm guessing he's got some friends around that'll do the same." Tifa said.

"I don't think so. That demon was killed far too easily to be of any real concern." Nori said.

"Demon?" Cloud asked.

"Yes, demon; that's why your attacks didn't do anything to it. In this realm, demons are immune to anything short of holy power or incredibly powerful magic." Nori said.

"Why's that?" Cloud asked.

"They don't belong here. Think of them as a sort of black hole in this reality, sucking in everything unless something powerful stops them. All your punching and slashing did was amuse it. This cross on the other hand," he said holding it up,"is a holy relic blessed by the priests of my temple. Along with that it used to belong to an incredibly powerful paladin back in the old days, so it's pretty strong."

"What about that sword?" Cloud asked.

"This? This is a combination of two swords: The sword of virtues, and the sword of sins."

"Swords of virtue and sins?" Tifa asked quietly.

"The sword of sins is a dark blade that usually recquires you to feel some form of hate or lust, greed, any of the seven deadly sins. It feeds off the negative energy of everything around it to make it strong, which also makes it dangerous. Many who've tried to wield it usually go mad from all the darkness this thing has harnessed over the years. The sword if virtue is a polar of the sword of sins, feeding off the positive energy of everything around it. The trouble with wielding that sword is that if you're going to kill with it, it'll basically reject you as its wielder. When put together they make the soul sword, a weapon that only someone showing incredible control over both sets of emotions can weild."

"Would that someon be you?" Cloud asked.

"Yeah. The priests where I was raised taught me extensively how to truly control my emotions so that I can think and make sound and timely decisions. I admit though, there are times when I've let them get the better of me, but luckily it's not too extreme."

There was another chilly wind and all three looked at each other.

"You two should get out of here stat." Nori said walking off.

"Leaving so soon? My my Nori, aren't we in a hurry." they heard a voice say.

Nori stopped and turned around, his eyes full of anger.

"You..." he said in quiet anger.

They were looking at another silhouette, but in the shape of a man with no eyes.

"Who's that?" Cloud asked ready to attack.

"Lucifer." Nori said unsheathing the soul sword.

"So ready to fight, like the rest of the vermin in your accursed order; but I have something for you, and your new friend...Cloud." Lucifer said with a soft chuckle.

"And what's that?" Cloud asked.

"It's...an old friend of yours. You two have already met before many times; maybe not on the best of terms, but I think you can both find it in your hearts to be....friends." he said with a mad cackle.

Lucifer held a hand in front of him as the ground in front of him opened up. Fire shot up as they saw a figure rise from the flames. Cloud and Tifa looked on in horror as they saw the familiar white hair, hateful green eyes, and long sword as Sephiroth slowly floated for a moment before the ground underneath him closed up.

"No...." Cloud said in horror.

"Cloud, it's been too long." Sephiroth said with a sinister chuckle.

"Who's this?" Nori asked looking at Cloud.

"Ah, it seems you've made a new friend." Sephiroth said looking at Nori.

"Not someone you'd want to know." Cloud replied.

Sephiroth charged at Cloud and they locked swords after a couple of swings Sephiroth knocked Cloud back. Nori charged, locking swords with a smirking Sephiroth.

"Oh, you're a strong one." he smiled before throwing him aside.

"Cloud! Nori!" Tifa said said running up before giving a cry of pain.

"Look what we have here," Lucifer said, his hand in her back,"such a pretty little face, and it's all for me."

"Lucifer! Release her at once!" Nori yelled.

"Or what? As I recall you still have a more pressing opponent to deal with." Lucifer laughed pointing at Sephiroth,"But don't worry, I'll take good care of her." he said before the ground beneath them opened up. A paralyzed Tifa and a horrified Nori and Cloud looked on as Lucifer slowly decended into the earth with Tifa before the ground once again closed up.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!TIIIIIFAAAAAAAAAAA!" Cloud yelled in anger.

"Pay attention Cloud, or you'll lose your head!" Sephiroth said charging.


	2. Chapter 2

A distraught Cloud tried furiously to defeat his all too common foe once again, yet even with the help of Nori, Sephiroth seemed to be far stronger than before. Every strike they made towards him was deflected, a superior smirk was etched on his face as he knocked them both away once again.

"Wait a minute...I know what this is." Nori said sheathing his sword.

"What are you doing!?" Cloud yelled in confusion.

"This...thing, he isn't actually this man that you know...Sephiroth." Nori said turning around and walking away.

"What?" Cloud said looking at what he now believed probably wasn't Sephiroth.

"It's a phantom of fear that Lucifer summoned. All this demon does is take on the worst fear of the first person it sees; in reality it's basically harmless. There's no use fighting it; all it'll do is feed off that fear and make itself stronger. If this were the real Sephiroth, we'd both probably be dead or seriously wounded by now. Just walk away from it." Nori said.

Hesitantly, Cloud sheathed his sword and turned his back on the false Sephiroth.

"Don't turn your back on me Cloud!" The false Sephiroth said angrily and charged.

He was two steps from Cloud when he suddenly stopped and made a choking sound. His eyes glowed white and he held his throat as he suddenly began to disintegrate.

Cloud caught up to Nori, who just sent and eagle off with a strip of paper attached to it's leg.

"What happened back there? Where did he take Tifa?" Cloud demanded angrily.

"If it hasn't sunk in by now, that was Lucifer. You know, Satan, the devil, prince of darkness, the whole shabang. Unfortunately he's taken Tifa back to hell with him; I don't know why that might be. However, I don't plan to let him get away with this, and I know I wasn't the only one who felt him in this world. I've already sent my messenger to a few people I know can help get her back and figure out his motives for taking her in the first place." Nori said.

"How long will it take for them to get here?"

"With a message like this, they should be here by the end of the day, if not sooner. I told them I'd be in the city of Edge with a man named Cloud. I'm not one to judge how fast they'd get here so we should hurry back." Nori said walking off.

"I have a motorcycle, it'll be quicker that way." Cloud said pointing at his Fenrir.

"As much as I'd like too, I'm not to fond of the idea of holding on to a guy while riding a motorcycle. Besides, why ride when I can do this-" he said jumping back and disappearing.

"What the-" Cloud said looking around. He quickly got on his bike and sped back towards Edge.

He arrived at his home to see Nori leaning against the wall. Along with him were three others.

The first, a girl, had black hair that went to the middle of her back. She wore a black, sleeveless zip-up jacket with black pants and ankle-high black boots. Strapped to her left thigh was what looked like the hilts of two swords combined into one. She had ocean blue eyes and looked Cloud up and down as he walked up.

Next to her was man with short black hair the fell over his red eyes. He wore a fishnet shirt with the same black pants and boots as Nori. On his back was a katana with a red hilt, the blade itself was black.

The last guy looked similiar to Cloud in facial features, except his eyes were darker and his blonde hair hung over his eyes. He wore a long sleeve black shirt and black pants that covered the back of his black shoes. On his back was a blood red claymore.

"Is this the Cloud you mentioned in the message?" The girl asked.

"Yes. Cloud, these are allies of mine: Ayane, a powerful preistest, Sozin, one of the best paladins I've ever known, and Damien, the son of Lucifer." Nori said.

Cloud looked at Damien, who stared back with his deep blue eyes.

"Son of Lucifer?" Cloud asked in disbelief.

"Not something I am proudly known for, but yes." Damien said.

"We should head inside and discuss this; we have no idea who may be listening." Ayane suggested.

"Good idea." Cloud said opening the door for them.

"So, what's going on? Where is Tifa and why did Lucifer take her?" Cloud demanded once they were all inside.

"To tell you the truth, we don't have a definite answer for you." Ayane said.

"Like Nori said though, it is weird that he chose to show himself like that. What's even more confusing is how he was able to physically take a person, who isn't even dead, into hell." Sozin said resting his chin on his hand.

"How is that weird?" Cloud asked.

"Contrary to popular belief, my father has no real power over man. In fact, he has no power at all since he's chained and imprisoned in the ninth circle of hell. The demons people run into are merely minions of his that carry out his bidding in his attempt to bring about the downfall of man. The fact that he was strong enough to come into this world and take someone, body, mind and soul, back into hell could mean only one thing." Damien said looking at Nori.

"Which is what?" Cloud said sitting down.

"His chains have been weakened..." Nori said quietly.

"How's this even possible?..." Ayane asked.

"Sin is what makes my father strong, but we would've been able to tell when his chains were weakening. For them to be weakened so fast could only be caused by someone tampering with something...." Damien said.

"Something like the lifestream." Cloud concluded, remembering Sephiroth calling forth the tainted lifestream in their last battle.

"That could be it...what happened?" Damien asked.

Cloud explained the entire story to them: The remnants, jenova, and the final battle with Sephiroth.

"A...negative lifestream?" Ayane sounded perplexed.

"That had to be it. When you defeated Sephiroth, and the negative lifestream vanished, with no were to go it ended up going to my father." Damien said.

"And with all that negative energy..." Nori stopped.

"His chains were weakened." Cloud finished.

"Then it's decided; we need to descend into hell, stop Lucifer and save Tifa." Nori declared.

"I'm coming too." Cloud said.

"Hold on there loverboy," Ayane said holding her hand out,"This is no place for any mere man."

"I'm not leaving this up to you guys. I'm going there to save Tifa." Cloud said firmly.

"Listen, hell is filled with demons who'll jump at the chance to possess a physical corpse so that they can wreak havoc in this world. Our bodies have seals on us that will lock our bodies should we ever die to keep that from happening. I'm sorry Cloud, it's much too dangerous to let you come." Ayane said apologetically.

"No, let him come." Damien said.

"What! Why?" Ayane protested.

"If he wants to save her, then he has every right to come with us. This...Tifa was it? Meant a great to him; we can't just have him stay back and worry on our success."

"So did you just totally ignore my last statement? You know the one about death and possession?"

"If he dies in hell, we destroy his body. It's a very simple task." Sozin said.

Ayane rolled her eyes,"Fine, but I'm not gonna be the one destroying it."

"So how do we descend into hell?" Cloud asked.

"First, we die." Damien said with a smirk.


End file.
